Apparatus for the atomization of liquids



Sept. 25, 1956 H, MULLER f 2,764,451-

APPARATUS FOR THE ATOMIZATION OF LIQUIDS Filed NOV. 15, 1954 United States Patent fice 2,764,451 Patented Sept. 25, 1956 APPARATUS FOR THE ATOMIZATION OF LIQUIDS Hans Miiller, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to Aerosol Corporation T. R., Vaduz, Liechtenstein Application November 15, 1954, Serial No. 468,957 4 Claims. (Cl. 29963) The present invention relates to an apparatus for the atomization of liquids to produce so-called aerosols.

Known apparatus for producing aerosols generally comprise an atomizer unit, wherein the liquid fog is produced at the same time as the air stream to be used for conveying the fog.

It has been proposed to provide such units with an electromotor having a shaft which is driving the atomizing means as Well as the means for producing an air current, such as a propeller, or the like.

It has however been found, that the air current thus obtained cannot be varied to any desired extent without simultaneously impairing the efliciency of the produced aerosol.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for atomizing liquids, in which one or a plurality of atomizing units contain individual electric driving means for driving centrifugal atomizing means, and a separately driven air blower for delivering an air current to the different atomizing units.

The apparatus according to the invention comprises at least one atomizer unit having a casing which contains a centrifugal disc, coupled to an electric driving motor and communicating with supply means for a liquid, the casing being provided with an air inlet and an outlet for the liquid fog, and an air blower adapted to be separately driven and having its discharge .side connected to the air inlet of said casing.

Owing to this arrangement of the apparatus, the air current which is required for conveying the liquid fog or for producing the aerosols can be controlled independently of the output of the electromotor which drives the centrifugal disc, and consequently independently of the efficiency of the atomizer or of the particle size of the aerosols.

Preferably a plurality of atomizer units is connected in parallel to a common air blower.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of an apparatus comprising three atomizer units;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a portion of an apparatus comprising two atomizer units. I

Fig. 4 shows an atomizer unit drawn to a larger scale and partly shown in sections In the drawing 1 designates a frame consisting of profiled metal carriers, on which three atomizer units 2 and a blower 3 are supported in spaced relationship, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The atomizer units 2 are of conventional design; each unit comprises a casing 14 containing an electromotor 15 provided with a vertical shaft 16 which carries a hub 18 for driving one or several rotary centrifugal discs 17 adapted for the atomization of a liquid. The bottom of the casing is provided with an inlet 4 for the liquid. The hub 18 also carries a rotary conical suction tube 19 along the internal walls of which the liquid in the casing 14 rises and arrives upon the centrifugal discs 17 when the motor 15 operates. The supply means for the liquid include a supply conduit to which the inlets 4 of the casings are connected by connecting members 6.

The air blower 3 is individually driven by an electric motor 20 and discharges into a distributor tube 7 having three outlet branches connected each to an air inlet on the casing of an atomizer unit 2 by means of flexible tubes 8a, 8b and 80, respectively.

In this manner the separate atomizer units of the embodiment of the apparatus according to Figs. 1 and 2 are connected in parallel to the common blower 3, and further they are series-connected to the supply conduit 5 for the liquid.

When operating the apparatus, the liquid fed to the different atomizer units 2 is atomized by means of the centrifugal discs 17 within the casings, and is ejected as a liquid fog or aerosol into the surrounding space through the outlets 9 of the casings by means of the air current which is produced by the blower 3.

In order to control the air current which is supplied to the atomizer units 2, manually adjustable control valves 11 are arranged in the inlets 10 of each atomizer unit. In the :samemanner each connecting member 6 of the supply means for the liquid may also be provided with a control valve, so that both the air-supply and the liquid-supply for each atomizer unit 2 can be adjusted independently of each other.

It is obvious, that the atomizer units may also be connected in parallel to a common source of liquid. On the other hand, each atomizer unit may be associated with its own individual liquid reservoir or storage tank. In that latter case, the dilferent tanks are preferably interconnected through communicating tubes. The liquid level in the tanks can then be simultaneously adjusted for all atomizer units by means of a float 21 arranged inside the tank of one of the atomizer units, said float controlling for instance a magnetically operated valve arranged within a supply conduit connected to said communicating tubes.

As is shown in Fig. 3, alternatively two separate atomizer units only can be connected each by flexible tubes 12a and 12b, respectively, and a corresponding distributortube member 13 to a common air blower 3, and in the same manner more than three, or alternatively a single atomizer unit, could be connected to an air blower.

Preferably, the air intake of the air blower 3 is provided with an air filter for purifying the air delivered to the atomizing units.

I claim:

1. A liquid atomizer comprising a plurality of atomizing units; each of said atomizing units comprising a casing having a liquid inlet, an air inlet and a discharge outlet for discharging the atomized liquid freely from the atomizer, centrifugal discs, a tube leading the liquid to said centrifugal discs, an electric motor within the casing for rotating said centrifugal discs to atomize the liquid; a plurality of conduits coupled in parallel to the air inlets of said units, a blower forcing air through said conduits to eject the atomized liquid from each of said units, regulating means on each of said conduits for controlling the air supply to each unit, and liquid supply means coupled to the liquid inlets.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said atomizer units are connected in series to said liquid supply means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said atomizer units are connected in parallel to said liquid supply means, and regulating means for controlling the liquid supply to each atomizer unit.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each atomizer unit comprises a liquid tank connected to the liquid supply means, and a control valve for the simultaneous control of the liquid level in all tanks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,268,219 Lyons et a1. Dec. 30, 1941 

